The room at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine is 150 square metres, fitted with an OptiTrack camera system. Having so much free movement in a VR experience is quite unusual. Camera tracking, plus the Dassault software in an on-site server, can refresh user locations in real time, allowing exploration of the whole cave system. “We want anyone, of any age, to be able to consume this type of experience. Some elderly people were telling us, ‘I’ve never even sent an email’ – but with VR, as soon as you put on your headset, you forget about the technology. You feel like an explorer, wearing the gear and working inside wondrous locations,” Tayoubi enthuses. The team’s research isn’t just about the technology, but the best ways to use it. What Tayoubi discovered is that experiences like Lascaux 3D often work best with a guide. Someone giving directions or answering questions offers visitors a feeling of safety, and greater insight. “Users can see the guide’s avatar. The guide can then say, ‘don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything, just walk – you can take your spouse’s hand if you like,’ and we have lots of people holding hands.” The caves at Lascaux contain over 600 different paintings, depicting almost 6000 unique figures. Researchers now view the caves in a way that would never have been possible in real life. VR allows close inspection of ceiling paintings that would require scaffolding to reach in the actual caves (and needed scaffolding for the original painters to execute, too). Groups of scholars are able to spend time viewing the caves together, discussing them in real time – whereas, in the real cave, time and numbers are severely limited. And, thanks to this new technology-enabled experience, thousands of visitors will explore the stunning caves again, without further harming this important world treasure.
GROUPS OF SCHOLARS ARE ABLE TO SPEND TIME VIEWING THE CAVES, DISCUSSING THEM IN REAL TIME
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